What Happened?
by Chelsee6
Summary: How exactly did one of Catherine's lowest moment's turn into one of her best? Cath/Sara. Femmeslash and only rated T because of this.


A/N: Gah, my mother has roped me into doing temp work at her office, so I figured I'd post this little oneshot so I have something nice to come home to; all your lovely reviews, pretty pretty please.

This is unbetaed so all mistakes are mine. I do not own CSI...actually I think these characters actually own me...does that mean I am the property of CBS by default, as he owns these characters? Cause that thought is actually quite scary.

Anyway, on with the story:

* * *

"What happened? I walked in on him fucking one of his dancers, that's what happened." Catherine spat bitterly, leaning against the wall and looking up at the ceiling so she wouldn't have to see his pitying gaze.

"Well he's an idiot then," Warrick declared gallantly, somehow his declaration did nothing to dispel her growing fears; that she was old, past it. "I'm right, aren't I Sara?" Warrick said, alerting Catherine to the young woman's presence. If Catherine hadn't been feeling so low right now she was have been pissed off that she was here to see her misery. As it was she really couldn't bring herself to give a flying fuck.

"Of course," the brunette replied simply, surprising Catherine. She frowned as her eyes came to rest on the brunettes back. The woman was fiddling with something in her locker, no longer paying any attention to the other occupants of the locker room. Without another word, or a backwards glance, Sara left the locker room.

Catherine's frown deepened. Sara's statement had been simplistic to a fault, no comforting words had ensued from her mouth, and if Catherine had been a little more paranoid and a little less astute she might have thought the brunette was just agreeing so as not to provoke an argument or be needlessly rude. Catherine, however, had noticed the tone of absolute honesty and conviction in her voice, and somehow it left her breathless. If only Sara wanted her like that, her treacherous mind dared to think.

If Sara loved her like that all would be right with the world, and at the same time horribly skewed, in Catherine's thinking. There was no way Sara could ever love her like that; she was straight. And besides, Catherine was old, she had a daughter—why would Sara want her, even if she did date women.

--

Sara was leaving on time for once, not a common thing, when she discovered Catherine seated in the locker room once again. The blonde was probably unaware that she had tears running down her face, and Sara didn't want to point it out to her; she had some sanity left. However, she was overcome with a want to comfort her, only she didn't know how.

"Warrick was right, you know." Sara stated softly. "Chris is a jackass. A blind, stupid, asshole who couldn't seem to understand he had something that a million people would kill for."

"Oh?" Catherine's tone was dry and self depreciating. "And what was that?"

"You." Sara answered simply. She winced as she heard Catherine's disbelieving laughter. "I'm serious Cath, I could drag you down to one of those clubs on the strip, and I will bet an entire month's pay that within the first five minutes, at least two people will try and chat you up"

"Thanks Sara, I know you're trying, but please, just leave me alone" Catherine turned her stare to the floor, causing Sara's blood to boil.

"I'm serious Catherine," Sara insisted, making her way over to the older woman and squatting down in front of her. Softly her hand moved out and brushed Catherine's hair back from her face. "You might not agree with me right now cause your ego has been bashed smashed and jumped on, but you are one of the most beautiful women I have ever met."

Catherine's breath was snatched out of her lungs as she heard Sara's words, her heart started beating out double time in her chest, and her eyes gravitated towards Sara's lips. Those lips that had just uttered one of the nicest things Catherine had ever heard, not just because it was Sara saying it, and not just because she had just called her beautiful, but because she was being absolutely brutally honest.

Suddenly all her reasons for ignoring her growing attraction for her younger female co-worker seemed irrelevant. After just a moment of hesitation she leant forward and pressed her lips up against Sara's, quivering as she tasted her for the first time; a mix of coffee, nicorette gum, and something uniquely Sara. Her tongue snaked out and brushed across Sara's bottom lip before darting into the surprised brunette's mouth. Catherine pulled back moments later, feeling a gut wrenching pain in her chest—oddly worse than when she had walked in on Chris—because Sara had not responded. Damn it.

"Catherine?" Sara's voice was lower than normal, and God it was sexy. Why was she still here? Why hadn't she just cut and run? Did she honestly expect Catherine to respond to her after she had had her ego 'bashed smashed and jumped on' and her heart squashed. "Fucking hell" Catherine looked up startled, now it seemed Sara was angry, the dark look in her eyes and the scowl on her face certainly said so, but Catherine had no idea why. It seemed she was about to find out, "Ok, I get it; you're looking for a little confirmation of what I just told you. You want to feel wanted, needed. But seriously Cath, don't pull that shit with me."

Catherine just stared at Sara with wide eyes; she was having a little trouble processing what was happening. Sara seemed to see this because her facial expression softened to something like reproach.

"C'mon Cath, you know me…I've been messed around too much for that, first Grissom then Hank, then Grissom again." She shook her head sadly.

Catherine pressed her lips together, suddenly feeling guilty, "I know, I'm sorry" she whispered. "If it helps it's hardly messing you around" she let out a hard short bark of laughter, "I mean, it's not like you're emotionally invested in me or anything." Her gaze was back on the floor, refusing to meet Sara's eyes.

"You know what Cath?" Sara stated, rocking back on her heels. "I'm going to let you in on a secret, if you kiss me again without meaning anything to come from it, you really will be messing me around." Sara waited for stunned blue eyes to meet her own. "I'm too damn emotionally invested in you for my own good" Sara murmured softly, knowing that right now—to her—Catherine's self image was more important to her than her own self protection. She hated seeing Catherine so broken.

"And…" Catherine let her tongue dart out to moisten her lips, "And if I kiss you again, but I do want something to come from it?" she asked tentatively, her eyes not leaving Sara's.

Sara blinked at the implication to Catherine's words, stunned was an understatement. Perhaps the largest understatement ever. "Catherine, be careful" she warned. Catherine's gaze didn't waver in the slightest, not once. Suddenly Sara felt like she was drowning, she wasn't used to people caring for her, especially not people she cared for back. "If you intend to make a go of something with me—" Sara started, diverting her gaze to the floor, "Then you should ask me out on a date in a few weeks, when you've had a little time to get over Chris. I'm not going to be a rebound girl Catherine."

"Ok" Catherine nodded, "But, for the record, you could never be the rebound girl…" Catherine swallowed, suddenly overwhelmed with the urge to be honest, at least a little. "It's been you for a while Sara, only you. Chris was…a distraction at best, I never expected anything long term…it probably went on for too long in the first place anyway, I just…" Catherine stopped as she felt Sara's finger on her lips.

"Not now" Sara insisted. "Ask me out in a couple of weeks, tell me this another time…cause, Catherine," Sara beamed, "We have time." A giddy smile made it's way to Catherine's face; stretching out across her lips. She nodded her assent, but that didn't stop her from pressing a light kiss into Sara's fingertip.

--

"That's what happened" Sara stated.

"It was that simple?" asked one member of her disbelieving audience.

Sara laughed, "It was hardly simple, that was just the beginning. But we made it through." She beamed across the room at Catherine, the woman she had been with for three years; also the woman who she had, just hours ago, promised to spend the rest of her life with.

"That's kind of anticlimactic" Greg seemed disappointed, "I mean, I asked how you two worked out you were crazy about each other, but I was expecting…I don't know, excessive alcohol to be involved somehow."

Sara laughed, "Just cause it worked that way for you two, doesn't mean everyone is as thick as you are" she ribbed Greg and Nick, smirking. "Besides, I never said there wasn't excessive alcohol involved at some point."

Reviews, pretty pretty please.

XX Chez


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